Malcolm Turnbull has paid tribute to the drive and diversity of 2017 Australian of the Year finalists during a morning tea at The Lodge in Canberra.
Sacrifices made by finalists in the running for the nation's top gongs made their contributions all the more significant, the prime minister said.
"You're driven, you're creative, you are innovative, you're compassionate, you're makers of change," Mr Turnbull told them on Wednesday morning.
Paying tribute to 2016 Australian of the Year, former chief of army David Morrison, the prime minister said this year's finalists had joined a remarkable group of people.
"Your stories have been written on the land, on the sporting field, in our cities, in our towns, in our most remote communities," he said.
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"They have played out in our schools and our hospitals, on our streets, in our justice system, and in the hearts and minds of those whose lives you have touched."
The 2017 Australian of the Year Awards will be announced at a ceremony in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday evening.
